IAHGames announces the freedom fighters have won the day in their island
paradise of Granado Espada, as this MMOG has gone the free-to-play route as of
its latest content expansion. The game will now use microtransactions
as a business model, and users who have already purchased game time under the
old subscription method will have their remaining time converted to the game's
virtual currency. They are also implementing a loyalty reward program to
compensate those who have already demonstrated their dedication to the game.
Full details are on the
Granado Espada Website, and here's a bit:

26th December 2007
Singapore - Good news for Granado Espada (GE) fans - Five months after the
launch of the multiple award-winning game, it is now available to gamers free to
play (F2P) with the launch of the Bahia Island Expansion on the 20th of
December.

With a pledge to bring a whole new dimension to the GE gaming experience, IMC
Games, HanbitSoft, and local operator IAHGames will introduce a stash of new
premium items which will feature exquisitely designed costumes to compliment the
tropical beach scenes in the new expansion.

The expansion will feature new maps such as Bahia Island and Tierra De Los
Muertos (Land of the Dead).

The move to F2P, in alignment with other global GE partners, is essential to
bring gamers in the region in tandem with gamers worldwide. IAHGames assures
that the move to F2P will bring about a new influx of GE gamers, aid the
longstanding development and bring added excitement to the game.

Said Hakkyu Kim, creator of GE and CEO of IMC Games, “We believe that with this
new model, many new gamers would then be able to share the rich content of the
game while adding new colors to the vibrant GE community.”

To commemorate the move to F2P, IAHGames will be giving away ‘Loyalty Reward
Packages’ to qualifying gamers as a gesture to thank them for their loyal
support over the past months.

The package will contain various items and G-points (game currency worth real
money).

i tried the game and it looks fantastic! going f2p might be a response to the market condition, while not being reflective of the game quality. look at the online game market now, it's filled with f2p games.

I remember trying this in beta a while back. I should say I barely remember trying it because I uninstalled it very quickly. Standard Korean MMO fare with slightly different outfits. Maybe it has changed some since then, who knows...

Free to play generally means shit. I tried Fury when it when free to play and removed it less than 5 minutes later (most of that time spent trying to log in and creating my character). I'd be interested to hear what anyone that has played it has to say about it.